Harlequin Pinscher Breed Standard

 for the American Canine Registry and the Harlequin Pinscher Association (*USA)

Approved 11/4/2007

Other Names: Merle Miniature Pinscher
Merle/Piebald Miniature Pinscher
Piebald Miniature Pinscher

Brindle Miniature Pinscher

Movement:  Quick, yet well balanced & graceful.

Temperament:  Loyal, and willing to please.  Happy.  Ready to defend family if necessary but eager to make friends.

Uses:  Companion

Confirmation:

HEAD: 

Skull:  Elongated, and broad.  Appears flat and tapers forward toward the muzzle.

Eyes:  Dark, Blue or Green/Gold, bi is acceptable.

Ears: Cropped, Not cropped, tipped or natural erect.  If cropped must be cropped in proportion to head at 12-16 weeks of age.

Muzzle: Medium and tapering to an unexaggerated point.

Nose: Black on Black and Red base coated dogs.  Red dogs may also have self colored brown/red nose.  Brown on Brown and Fawn.  Blue on Blue.  Blue or Brown on Blue/Fawn.

Bite: Scissor

Teeth:  Clean, of correct number, shape and position.

Neck:  Broad at shoulders, slightly arched.

TORSO:

Topline: Level or slightly slopping toward the hind quarters.

Chest: Very deep, slightly barrel shaped, well formed with no exaggeration.

Body: Well muscled, square in form measuring within 1 inch of height from ground to point of wither as from bend of neck to bend of tail..

Legs: Perfectly straight forelegs.  Length being justifiable to length of body to give a square visual appearance.  

Toy:  4-10 inches from ground to point of elbow.  4-12 inches from ground to point of wither.

Miniature:  11-16 inches from ground to point of elbow.  13-18 inches from ground to point of wither.

Standard:  17-24 inches from ground to point of elbow.  19-26 inches from ground to point of wither.

Hind legs are angulated.

Feet: Compact, arched toes, dewclaws removed on both front and back feet.

Tail: Docked to be 1 to 2 inches long at maturity, set high.   Undocked tails are acceptable but not preferred and will be placed below same quality dog with properly docked tail in class.  Natural Bobtail is acceptable but not preferred due to inability to set length and full bob tails are a disqualification.

Proportional Appearance:

Body: Perfect being 1 pound of body weight per inch of dog in height.

Head: 

Ears cut in proportion to head.

Skull width and nose length in correct proportion for an overall gathered appearance.

Gait:  Deer like

 

Faults/Penalties:

Any deviation from the breed standard such as but not limited to height/weight ratio, tail length, dewclaws, improper chest formation, unsocial, overly shy, timid.  Dirty teeth heavily penalized.

 

DISQUALIFICATIONS:

Not within height standard.

Not within weight standard.

Exaggerated difference in height/weight ratio.

V-Chest

Coat being anything other than short, flat, smooth and tight to body.

Any color, pattern or markings not listed in breed standard.

Ears not of same set.  Ears that are not cut in proportion to head - Too short or too long.

Any over-exaggeration of confirmation as stated by breed standard.

Dewclaws on any legs.

Bad Teeth, improperly aligned teeth.

Tail docked to short or too short of a natural bob as it is highly discouraged as a health risk.

Bad Temperament, Aggression, Inability to be controlled by owner/handler.  Dogs deemed by Judge or Show Personnel to have such temperaments MUST be removed immediately from the premises.

Late to or missing pre-inspection, late to or missing registration, late to or missing call of any kind without PRIOR authorization by the Show Director.

Judge:

Dogs will be judged in a class group and individually.  Scores are accumulated from both for final scoring.  Class Groups may be broken down to Breed Group if deemed necessary by the number of entries present.

Class Group top scorers of 1, 2 and 3 are awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes.  1st place dog in each class goes on to the Superior Dog Class for "Show Awards". 

All dogs are awarded their accumulated scores toward championship title points if the scores are of acceptable total and afforded according to ACR Show Rules/Policies/Standards.  Dogs advancing to advanced classes on same show day will receive ALL of their accumulated points.

Any dog without PRIOR authorization by the Show Director missing or late to their pre-inspection, registration, class call, individual call or award ceremony will be disqualified.

SCORE CARD:

 42.5+ points in each class for a combined score of 85+ is required to advance points for accumulation toward titles.

REGISTRATION:

All dogs are REQUIRED to be micro chipped PRIOR to submission for registration and microchip number submitted with application for registration.

All dogs will have DNA hair follicles pulled at every show for future identification if needed.  HPA/ACR may also request DNA hair follicle samples and any person refusing or ignoring request for submission will be denied future

registration privileges and current dogs owned will be elevated to suspended registrations.

 

Registration fees are $25.00 per dog. 

$25.00 per litter. 

Show Fees are $25.00 per dog per show.

ALL dogs used must be either an ACR Merle, Brindle or Piebald Miniature Pinscher, ACR Miniature Pinscher, HPA Foundation Stock Miniature Pinscher, HPA Foundation Stock Merle or Brindle Rat Terrier or an established F-series HPA documented dog.

Any dog submitted for registration MUST have a minimum 3 generation pedigree submitted with application for registration or it will be denied registration.  NO EXCEPTIONS!  Pedigrees MUST be from an established Pedigree Service/Registry recognized by ACR. 

 

There are NO Membership fees and there are no members of HPA/ACR. 

 

Registers are granted registration privileges only.

Merle or Brindle Rat Terrier foundation stock submitted for "Foundation Registration" MUST be accompanied via 5 pictures of the animal showing both side, front, back and head of animal.  HPA/ACR reserves the right to refuse registration if they feel the animal is not a suitable candidate for the welfare of the Harlequin Pinscher.

Any Foundation Registration requested submitted with the dog being 11 months or older must be verified by a licensed veterinarian as to breed, age, height, weight, ear set and color/markings/pattern.  Verification must be on Veterinarian Letterhead with Veterinarians Name, phone number and license number on the certification.

 

 

ONLY Class A - square bodied MERLE or Brindle Rat Terriers will be accepted for "Foundation Stock" .

 

Any found to be of not Class A Status will be removed from the database along with their prodigy.

 

Only those dogs verified by a Judge, Show Personnel, HPA/ACR representative or licensed veterinarian will be given Size classification as Toy, Miniature or Standard.   All others will be registered as broad category of "Harlequin Pinscher".